Workers in the Goldsboro, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.65 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($52.71), healthcare practitioners and technical ($40.80), legal ($40.52), and computer and mathematical ($40.51). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($13.77), personal care and service ($15.81), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.92). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Goldsboro area included sales and related (11.0 percent), transportation and material moving (10.9 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.6 percent), and office and administrative support (10.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 percent); and architecture and engineering (0.9 percent).

One occupational group—sales and related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Goldsboro had 4,510 jobs in sales and related, accounting for 11.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.68, compared to the national wage of $26.00.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the sales and related group included cashiers (1,470) and retail salespersons (1,450). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers ($36.73) and wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products, sales representatives ($34.78). At the lower end of the wage scale were cashiers ($12.53) and retail salespersons ($15.28). (Detailed data for the sales and related occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0024140.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Goldsboro area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the sales and related group. For instance, parts salespersons were employed at 2.15 times the national rate in Goldsboro, and cashiers, at 1.75 times the U.S. average. Insurance sales agents had a location quotient of 0.99 in Goldsboro, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Goldsboro, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 687 establishments with a response rate of 72 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Goldsboro, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Wayne County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for sales and related occupations, Goldsboro metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Sales and related occupations	4,510	1.27	18.68	38,860
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	430	1.45	23.30	48,470
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers	60	1.04	36.73	76,400
Cashiers	1,470	1.75	12.53	26,060
Counter and rental clerks	160	1.51	18.00	37,440
Parts salespersons	150	2.15	16.72	34,770
Retail salespersons	1,450	1.44	15.28	31,780
Insurance sales agents	120	0.99	32.71	68,040
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents	60	0.46	32.71	68,030
Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel	180	0.56	31.46	65,430
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products	350	1.03	34.78	72,350
Real estate sales agents	40	0.78	29.55	61,470
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Goldsboro, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0024140. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.